I am the son of political refugees. When my family left the Soviet Union in 1989, they didn’t know for sure whether they would be let in the United States. They spent nine months being bounced around from Austria to Italy — their first experience in the Western world — waiting for their papers to be cleared so they could immigrate. They waited in limbo as the United States Senate debated the Lautenberg Amendment, an ambitious bill that sought to allow nearly 400,000 Soviet Jews into the country — a number of refugees that would be unbelievable, were it today.
When they were finally let in, they all had one man to thank: Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. He fought hard to ensure that Soviet Jews received the same rights as every immigrant that came to this nation — the opportunity to avoid persecution and the right to rise. It wasn’t something they thought they would be afforded.
The Cold War had kept Russians at arms length for the greater part of a century, as Americans lived in constant fear of a potential nuclear war with the Soviet Union. The predominant culture and politics at the time perpetuated the idea that the Soviet Union and its people sought to destroy the American way of life.
Yet, the Soviet Union sought to destroy the lives of Soviet Jews. They were considered a lower class of citizens, marked by the status of Jewish, not Russian, on their passports. They weren’t allowed to attend the same universities as Russians, even if their merits deserved it. They weren’t allowed the opportunities their compatriots were afforded — even if they didn’t practice their religion.
I can’t help but draw parallels between the Syrian refugee crisis and the plight of my family. As Syrians flee their homeland by the millions under siege, they have a tough time to find where to go. European nations, where a majority of these refugees have fled, have taken no more than 50,000 each, with more laying at their shut borders.
Islamophobia is rampant across these nations. And at a time when American leadership is dearly needed, the Republican Party seeks to restrict the flow of Syrians in the nation. Some argue there needs to be a religious test to only admit Christians, not Muslims. Others want to restrict the immigration of all Muslims to the United States altogether. It is against values we held onto no longer than 25 years ago — under a Republican president, too.
Germany has emerged as a world leader in accepting Syrian refugees. It has received more than a million asylum seekers, ensuring that they don’t turn anyone away. Germany isn’t the only nation capable of taking in these refugees. More nations must step up their acceptance rate and help these Syrians rebuild their lives.
If the United States did not allow my family an opportunity to escape the Soviet Union, I am unsure where we would be now. I would not have been afforded the opportunities that I have been given — even the ability to attend a school like Binghamton University. Syrians deserve the same opportunities — their lives should not be destroyed by the poor choices of their governments.
I believe above all else, the United States and many Western nations need to reject islamophobia. The U.S. needs to set an example for the world to follow — to show that our values do not change when one’s religion does. We are a nation of religious tolerance and opportunity. We have no right to change it now.